Morning Glory Flower Meaning, Symbolism, and How to Use

Every day when the sun rises, the morning glory blooms, and every day when the sun sets, it withers and dies. We'll talk about the spiritual lessons contained in the amazing morning glory flower in this article.

The most common meanings of morning glory flowers are love, life, tenderness, death, and even love in vain, though they have other meanings as well.

What Does Morning Glory Flower Mean?

The Morning Glory blooms and dies on the same day, as we previously mentioned. Due to its symbolic significance, this is very important. Symbolizing life, death, rebirth, and love are morning glory flowers. Its brief existence serves as a metaphor for how transient everything, including love, is.

But keep in mind that every morning, the Morning Glory blooms again, demonstrating how nothing is truly lost forever and that everything is replenishable.

Despite dying, it keeps coming back. This demonstrates a flower's incredible tenacity. They are able to flourish, grow, renew each day, and look amazing while doing it.

These flowers stand for the ability to endure the worst and come out of it stronger and better.

Giving someone this flower conveys your undying love for them and your sincere concern for them. This flower is symbolic of an unbreakable bond between two people. Giving someone this flower during the Victorian era was a sign of love. But that love was for nothing.

The morning glory flower, which adores the sun, blooms in tandem with the sun. However, the flower is abandoned to perish when the sun sets.

In addition, the sun will always set. Therefore, it's love for the sun is in vain because it won't last forever.

Etymological Meaning of the Flower

Ipomoea Purpurea is the latin name of morning glory. Ipomoea, which literally translates to "worm," refers to the Morning Glory flower's ability to wrap itself around like a vine or a worm.

Purpurea, which means purple, refers to the flower's original color at the time of discovery. It is important to note that it is not just available in purple, but also in a variety of other colors.

We'll explain why it has a much funnier name in English—Morning Glory—than it does in Latin. On the one hand, the name alludes to how the flower blooms in all its splendor in the morning.

On the other hand, if the phrase "Morning Glory" sounds familiar to you it's because it's also a very well known innuendo.

If you understand what we're saying, it's an innuendo for a male anatomy feature that also rises in the morning. And that's all I have to say about that.

Symbolism of the Flower

Due to the Morning Glory's propensity to bloom, it is full of symbolism. The fact that it awaits and rises with the sun has a very sentimental quality. In this way, the Morning Glory represents an unending, yearning kind of love.

The flower stands for devotion to something that might not always reciprocate in kind. For this reason, Victorians would present someone with a Morning Glory flower as a sign of unrequited love. It was the polite way of saying look, dude, it is never going to happen. Move on.

Imagine receiving a lovely bouquet of flowers only to learn that it is a bouquet for a breakup. It's still much nicer than breaking up via text, though, so, yeah.

The Morning Glory's symbolic meaning has evolved, though, over time. This is largely due to the Victorian flower language dying out because it could be so incredibly cruel at times.

In addition to representing love and devotion, it also represents resiliency. The flower, despite dying every evening, returns every morning to complete the cycle because it is able to.

Flower Color Meanings

We had colors before we had words. Colors have deep symbolic meanings and always have. You might associate the color red with danger, blood, or even passion. Even the hues of flowers have deeper significance in this way.

Morning Glory actually comes in a variety of colors depending on how it is grown, the type of seed it is planted from, and a number of other factors, despite having the scientific name purpurea, which is Latin for purple.

The name comes from the fact that every color is on the purple spectrum. Here are some of the different colors Morning Glory comes in, and their meanings:

Pink

The emotions of romance, puppy love, tenderness, consideration, and appreciation are strongly linked to the color pink. When pink Morning Glories are given, a message of sweetness is conveyed, symbolizing all these various associations.

White

In many cultures, the white morning glory is a representation of innocence, spirituality, and purity. White wedding gowns are traditionally worn by brides in western cultures as a symbol of (outdated) purity. In western cultures, white morning glory flowers are actually quite popular in bridal bouquets.

Blue

The most prevalent color of this species of morning glory is blue. Ocean imagery almost always comes to mind when you think of the color blue. In a similar vein, the symbolism associated with the color of these morning glory flowers is as profound as the depth of the ocean. The color blue is a representation of unending love, intense emotions, respect, honesty, and trust.

Red

Recall how we said earlier that the color red represents passion? The same is true of red morning glory. They stand for intense feelings, and being hearty is strongly correlated with them. They personify tenacity and morality.

Purple

In the past, wearing purple was a sign of wealth, especially during the medieval, Greek, and Roman eras. This is due to the fact that possessing anything purple—such as purple clothing, items, jewels, etc.—meant you had access to purple dye, which was not only costly but also scarce.

In the past, making purple dye required cracking open a snail's shell, and one snail's shell didn't exactly produce much.

Because of this, purple was kept for the very wealthy. The reason why purple Morning Glories are a symbol of wealth, nobility, royalty, and beauty is also because of this.

Meaningful Botanical Characteristics of the Morning Glory Flower

In addition to having lovely flowers, morning glory also possesses some very advantageous botanical traits. The most useful part, in particular, are the seeds.

Chinese medicines frequently make use of morning glory seeds that have been finely ground and ground into a powder.

Morning glory seeds are actually hallucinogenic when consumed because they contain the ergoline alkaloid "lysergic acid amide." This is due to the fact that it has very similar chemical properties to LSD and will result in a trip that is similar to this one as well. In fact, there are records of Morning Glory being used in early psychedelic rituals.

It should be noted, though, that consuming Morning Glory seeds that have not been properly prepared can result in serious health issues like diarrhea, nausea, and vomiting.

The majority of morning glory seeds and flowers on the market today are covered in pesticide sprays and can be harmful to consume. Also prohibited in the US is the cultivation, importation, or sale of morning glory without a license.

Special Occasions for the Morning Glory Flowers

Even though there may not be a specific occasion for Morning Glory flowers anymore, there used to be many ceremonies where the flower was used to create a psychedelic state.

Particularly prevalent there, these were. In order to induce a state of hallucination, ancient Aztec priests frequently used morning glory seeds.

Then, they would interpret anything they had witnessed as a message from the gods, considering these trances to be states of divinity.

It begins to make a lot more sense when you consider how many people the Aztecs sacrificed and you realize the priests were absolutely insane. However, Morning Glory was primarily used in rituals to praise the Great Goddess of Teotihuacan.

The flower associated with September's birth month is currently thought to be morning glory. Therefore, if you are buying a bouquet for someone whose birthday is in September, Morning Glory may be the best choice.

They would also make a very significant gift for someone you believe could benefit from having more tenacity and resiliency in their daily activities.

Morning Glory Flower Cultural Significance

Morning glory was first used in ancient China, according to records. They employed the flower for ceremonial and medicinal purposes. The flower was becoming more and more popular in botanical gardens in Japan in the ninth century. Morning glory and fairies were associated in the far East.

The fairies attracted by the flowers brought luck and fortune with them.

A legend from ancient China describes two lovers who can only get together once a year. As a result of their belief that Morning Glory represents these two lovers, this is significant to the flower.

According to the legend, two young people had a single romantic encounter. They were in such a deep and passionate love that they forgot everything around them and neglected their responsibilities. Each of them consumed the other. The gods turned against the two lovers because they were so in love that they neglected their responsibilities.

They tore the two apart while cursing at them and acting furious. The gods, broken-hearted, gave them one small favor. On one particular day each year, they permitted the lovers to meet.

They were forced to perform their duties on the other days. In light of this, the story's lesson is: While love may be cool, remember to do your chores.

The Western world has generally adopted the Chinese significance of the morning glory flower, adding its own unique twist. The flower was used as a symbol of love during the Victorian era. It was frequently found in cemeteries and growing on gravestones, and it also symbolized life and death.

Morning Glory Flower Uses

There are numerous medicinal applications for morning glory, which is still widely used in traditional Chinese herbal medicine. Your internal organs are thought to benefit greatly from it.

As a diuretic for the kidneys, it increases urine production, eases swelling, cleans the kidneys, and lessens phlegm in the lungs.

Furthermore, the flower is still employed in some cultures to aid in the induction of labor in expectant women, and when used properly and safely, it can be just as effective as some pharmaceuticals for the purpose.

What is the Symbolism of a Morning Glory Flower Tattoo

It's interesting to note that a Morning Glory tattoo actually has less to do with love—whether unrequited or otherwise. In reality, it stands for someone who is extremely observant or devoted.

How to Care for Fresh Cut Morning Glory Flowers at Home

Even when left on the plant, it is almost impossible to make morning glory flowers last longer than a day.

Simply put, the blooms only last a short time and are best consumed right away after cutting. If the flowers are floppy, be sure to cut as much stem as you can to support them so they don't settle into the arrangement or sink into the water.

Final Thoughts

This amazing flower has a wealth of deep cultural significance and profound meanings. In addition, it is a very beneficial plant with a variety of medicinal qualities that are still useful today. That it can accomplish all of that while still maintaining such a stunning appearance is amazing.